Overview
Our free Trusts notes cover everything you need to know for the Solicitors' Qualifying Exam (SQE). From express private trusts and the 'Three Certainties' to trustee duties and equitable remedies, we've got you covered. Whether you're in a classroom or taking the self-study route, these notes provide added peace of mind, knowing that you have everything you need to help consolidate and revise effectively for the SQE1 exam. Think something could be better? Give us a shout on our contact page, and we'll take a look.
We've created comprehensive study guides for all SQE1 FLK1 and FLK2 topics. Check out our other free notes below:
FLK1
FLK2
- Criminal Law and Practice
- Land Law
- Property Practice
- Solicitors Accounts
- Trusts
- Wills and the Administration of Estates
1. Introduction to Trusts
- Definition and purpose of trusts
- Roles of settlor, trustee, and beneficiary
- Types of trusts: express, implied, resulting, constructive, and charitable
2. Creation and Requirements of Express Trusts
- The three certainties: intention, subject matter, and objects
- Certainty of intention to create a trust
- Certainty of subject matter (trust property)
- Treatment of parts of groups of things
- Certainty of objects (beneficial interests)
- Fixed interest trusts and discretionary trusts
- Administrative unworkability
- The beneficiary principle and the rule against perpetuities
- Formalities for creating express inter vivos trusts
- Constitution of express inter vivos trusts
- Exceptions to the rule that equity will not assist a volunteer
3. Beneficial Entitlement
- Fixed, discretionary, vested, and contingent interests
- Successive interests in trusts
- The rule in Saunders v Vautier and its application
4. Charitable Trusts and Non-Charitable Purpose Trusts
- Definition and characteristics of charitable trusts
- Advantages of charitable status
- Non-charitable purpose trusts and their limitations
- Distinctions between charitable and non-charitable purpose trusts
5. Implied Trusts and Trusts of the Family Home
- Resulting trusts: presumptions and how they arise
- Presumption of resulting trust in purchase money situations
- Presumption of advancement and its rebuttal
- Automatic resulting trusts
- Common intention constructive trusts
- Establishing a common intention (express and inferred agreements)
- Direct and indirect contributions
- Legal title in sole or joint names
- Proprietary estoppel: requirements and applications
- Joint ownership and equitable interests in the family home
6. Trustees: Appointment, Duties, Powers, and Liabilities
- Who can be a trustee
- Appointment, removal, and retirement of trustees
- Trustees' general duties and duty of care
- Duty to invest and powers relating to investment
- Types of authorized investments under the Trustee Act 2000
- Duties governing investment decisions
- Statutory powers of maintenance and advancement
- Trustees' statutory power of maintenance
- Trustees' statutory power of advancement
- Delegation of trustee duties and powers
- Whether trustees can be compelled to exercise their powers or discretion
- Breach of trust: personal liability and measure of liability
- Protection of trustees and limitation periods
7. The Fiduciary Relationship and its Obligations
- Definition of fiduciary relationships
- Identifying fiduciaries (trustees, agents, company directors)
- Duty not to profit from fiduciary position
- Duty to avoid conflicts between personal interest and duty
- Trustees not to purchase trust property
- Rules regarding dealing with trust property
- Competition with the trust and incidental profits
- Use of information or opportunities gained through fiduciary position
- Remuneration of trustees and exceptions
- Remedies for breach of fiduciary duties
8. Trustees' Liability for Breach: Proprietary Claims
- Understanding proprietary claims
- Tracing trust property in equity
- Situations with no change in trust property
- Clean substitutions and following assets
- Mixing of trust property with other property
- Rules for allocating withdrawals from mixed accounts
- Equitable remedies available for proprietary claims
9. Equitable Remedies and Tracing
- Nature and purpose of equitable remedies
- Injunctions, specific performance, equitable compensation
- Availability and limitations of tracing in equity
- Comparison between common law and equitable tracing
10. Remedies Against Third Parties: Recipient and Accessory Liability
- Liability of strangers to the trust
- Establishing recipient liability (knowing receipt)
- Criteria for knowing receipt
- Establishing accessory liability (dishonest assistance)
- Criteria for accessory liability
- Claims against wrongdoers and remedies
- Claims against innocent volunteers
- Defenses available to innocent volunteers
- Equitable proprietary claims against third parties